Jeremy didn't respond immediately. He simply stared at her and at the pool of liquid behind her. How could he use it? Was he truly interested in her? Absolutely yes, her power was terrifying. Imagine his evolved Bone Legion. That would be thrilling.
But the point was something else. Did he really need her… alive? He could just create a new Aberration, a fusion between her and Aliken.
Just as his gaze turned to the devil, Cambela spoke slowly. "I know what you're thinking. You don't need us alive. I've seen your undead, I've seen what they're capable of, and honestly, I too would have a hard time trusting a stranger who says they want to be with you forever and follow you."
"But know this about my power." Cambela's gaze didn't waver. "It cannot exist outside of me. We are in symbiosis. Upon my death, this concept will vanish, as if it never existed."
Jeremy observed her.
He didn't doubt her words—he knew about symbiotic concepts. Concepts of revolutionary power, but that would disappear forever upon the death of the original wielder.
And he, as confident as he was in his abilities, didn't doubt the impossibility of claiming this concept for himself. Not in the form of an Aberration, nor absorbed by Drae'mon.
Then he looked at Aliken.
The same couldn't be said for him—he was useless alive, and would have betrayed them anyway. Jeremy wasn't stupid, after all.
Seeing that indifferent, cold look, Aliken suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Master, I, Aliken, swear loyalty to you!"
His head slammed repeatedly against the ground. After all, Aliken was nothing more than a coward, too scared of death to care about dignity.
But it was hard to blame him. After all, who would ever open their arms to death? In a world like this, very few.
Jeremy didn't care about keeping him alive, but he thought resurrecting him as undead might somehow compromise his own power.
"Master, don't worry about him." Cambela spoke suddenly, already addressing Jeremy as Master. "During this time of isolation, I developed a certain magical potion. I know you've noticed the lack of something inside the creatures in this laboratory. Well, they've lost their free will. They're puppets under my control."
With that, Cambela produced a strange vial containing a black liquid.
"This is the Elixir of Control, made with the genetic essence and brain of a particular demon, the Mental Tyrant."
Jeremy's gaze faltered at the mention of that demon. He knew them, after all. They stood at the top of the galactic food chain, their power was off the charts—but that wasn't even their main strength.
They were based on the concept of manipulating reality through mental power. They were terrifying.
Seeing Jeremy's expression, Cambela knew she had struck a chord.
"I was lucky to find and kill one of those demons just as it reached Rank EX."
Jeremy's eyes were fixed on Cambela, as if he were looking at a monster.
Facing one of those demons alone wasn't something to take lightly. Sure, it would've been incredibly easy for Jeremy. That is, for his undead…
"His brain is in another room, the researchers keep producing this kind of Elixir. In the end, I had to develop it—I can't trust others anymore after what happened with that bastard."
Cambela's gaze locked onto Aliken.
The devil was still kneeling, head raised while listening to the woman speak. He was sweating all over, but could do nothing. He wanted to scream, wanted to run—but—
A skeleton appeared out of nowhere. It was Drae'mon.
His claws were pointed at the devil's neck.
"Well then." Jeremy said, looking at Cambela. "Go ahead. From now on, I will be your Master."
"Yes, Master." With a smile, Cambela approached Aliken. "Sigh, karma's a bitch, buddy—"
And with that line, she uncorked the vial and poured it straight into Aliken's throat. The poor devil didn't even have the strength to resist—not that it would have helped.
Moments later, Aliken's eyes went dark and his expression turned neutral.
"It's done. He's under our control now. He won't be able to betray us." Cambela let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. After all this time, the ex-friend who had betrayed her had paid. "However, this Elixir isn't permanent and must be administered regularly. This can't be avoided—after all, the material used to create it came from a Rank EX demon, like Aliken. It won't hold him forever."
"About once a week, I estimate." She added after a brief pause, staring at the devil.
"Well done." Jeremy nodded. "What are your plans now? World domination?"
Cambela looked at him and smiled.
"We need to go to Velrath, the capital. There's someone there I intend to capture. Their power could be useful to us. But first, I need to finish a few things here in the lab. Now that my dear old friend is back, there's something we need to take care of."
"Go ahead, I'll look around here."
"Yes, Master."
And with that, Jeremy walked away—but not before taking some essence from the pool. He intended to better understand the possibilities it could offer.
---
Genesis Essence
The liquid manifestation of the concept Genesis Catalyst.
---
A simple description, but one that opened the mind to countless paths.
Genesis—the possibility to create anything.
This liquid opened the door to evolution, allowing the combination of substances, organic or inorganic.
In a way, Jeremy could already do something similar with the dead, combining them to become stronger, evolved versions of themselves.
But perhaps, with the use of this Genesis Essence, he would have more possibilities? Imagine giving special evolution options to new Aberrations—or enhancing existing ones.
The possibilities were endless; they just needed to be explored.
And that's exactly what Jeremy did—he began playing with the liquid to explore its potential.
"All right, let's start with the basics." With a wave of his hand, a skeleton appeared out of nowhere. It was Shaman Orc, the support-type undead he had summoned long ago from a Gate.
He used to be a special summon, capable of boosting Jeremy's undead, but now he had become ordinary. After all, Jeremy had many human skeletons summoned previously with even better support skills than Shaman Orc.
"You'll go first, then." Jeremy gestured, and the skeleton sat on the ground. After all, he was very tall—around four meters.
"Now… how should I use it?" a thought crossed Jeremy's mind. "There are—"
"Open your mouth and swallow, okay?" Jeremy uncorked the vial containing the liquid and poured it gently into the skeleton's mouth, until the content was emptied. He had several vials—he wasn't worried about wasting them. He could always get more.
Once emptied, Jeremy removed the vial from the orc skeleton's mouth and waited. He had no idea what effect it might have—if any.
Then—
The blue flames in its eyes flared intensely. The blue color began turning into gold.
"It's working, something's happening." Jeremy was euphoric, bouncing on the spot. When it came to his skeletons, his personality completely changed.
But then, the orc's golden eyes began to turn black, the bones started to crack. It looked like it was about to shatter.
"What's happening?" Panic could be heard in Jeremy's voice.
As if in response, the orc began making creaking and snapping sounds.
Its bones were breaking and falling to the ground—but that wasn't all. The fallen bone fragments were literally evaporating, and a faint smoke surrounded the skeleton.
"Shit, Shaman Orc, don't give up—" Jeremy's eyes were glossy. They hadn't spent much time together, and they had barely fought once, but his affection for him was sincere.
But his words were useless. The orc was melting, evaporating.
Jeremy didn't take his eyes off the skeleton's for even a second, and perhaps he was going insane, but he could've sworn he saw a gentle smile on the crumbling face.
And then, even that vanished.
Smoke filled the surrounding area, and Jeremy's teary eyes didn't help make sense of the scene.
And so, one of Jeremy's skeletons was gone forever.